THE academy, one would expect, is a place of ongoing scholarly activity. For superior scholarly activity to take place requires an engaged academy -- one where there is a constant churn of events designed to generate, disseminate, and use knowledge to advance not just academia, but overall society as well. There are many components of the engaged academy involving its many stakeholders. Here I shall focus on the students for whom academia ought to play the role of nurturer so that they can build themselves as responsible citizens to shoulder the task of nationbuilding.

Unfortunately, the student body as a whole appears to be a disjointed entity, as if cut off from its moorings. It does not get the quality of guidance or involvement it needs. Far too often the students are left to their own devices, bereft of help from anyone other than their parents (for the lucky ones) or a few close friends. And the academy to them seems a desolate place from which a student is merely expected to emerge with a piece of paper called a degree. It is deplorable when a student from a premiere institution of the country reflects, "I have been cheated out of four-years of education, and hence, four years of my life." Bereft of guidance, lacking in fraternity, and reeling from the dismal apathy shown to them by their teachers, administrators, and other stakeholders, it is little wonder that many go wayward. Hooliganism, violence, and uncivil behaviours creep into their lives largely from outside influence, and the chances of building an active academy falls by the wayside in a regressive cycle of decay. Is there a way out?

Perhaps there is and we ought to study what goes on at other universities. To make things easy, I began looking where it was the easiest -The Pennsylvania State University. I found quickly that problems exist here too: The students have their share of fights, brawls and disagreements, there are physical and sexual harassment issues, cheating on exams evokes concern, cases of drug abuse or drunken behaviour are not unusual, race and gender issues inflame passions, and there are even cases of rapes and other serious incivilities that make life on campus nerve wracking at times. But I also noticed that there is a deep awareness within the academic community about these problems and a constant vigilance to thwart irresponsible and uncivil behaviour in any way possible -some proactive, some reactive, but mostly swift, punitive, and selfcorrecting. If one strays from the rules of engagement, the price is hefty. And these measures, on the whole, bring a sense of order and stability on campus that allows everyone involved to pursue his/her academic goals without constantly feeling insecure. Unfortunately, for many students in Bangladesh, there is a growing feeling of fear and insecurity that

develops into a hollow feeling of hopelessness. Left unattended, matters will only worsen and it is imperative for the academic community, one that often blames the government or the opposition as scapegoats, to take proactive steps and engage more vigorously to take on the role of nurturing seriously.

I will reflect briefly on some proactive measures at Penn State that might well be emulated as a starting point at the institutions of higher learning in Bangladesh with the ardent hope of seeing these campuses flourish again with the intellectual and social sparkle that once earned one of them the distinction "Oxford of the East."

Before arriving on campus, each freshman at Penn State receives a personal letter from the President -- Dr. Graham Spanier -- welcoming them. This year Dr. Spanier wrote in the opening paragraph, "Your entrance into Penn State is a step on a wonderful journey of personal growth. In addition to the intellectual development that is the primary purpose of college, I hope your Penn State experience also will promote the development of character, conscience, citizenship, and social responsibility." Clearly, the President understands that students do not arrive on campus equipped and programmed with these qualities and that these qualities need to be nurtured.

The administration also understands that students need to be guided and provided the basic rules of behaviour on campus in a bid to manage expectations. Hence, along with his personal message, the President of Penn State also enclosed the rules of engagement -- The Penn State Principles. I share these with academia in Bangladesh hoping that some will at least consider them, while true aspirants will attempt to put them to practice. Here are the four principles that incoming students are expected to internalise and demonstrate in their behaviours with guidance, support, and a strong commitment from the wider academic community to help uphold them:

+ I will respect the dignity of all individuals within the Penn State Community: The University is committed to creating and maintaining an educational environment that respects the rights of all individuals to participate fully in the community. Actions motivated by hate, prejudice, or intolerance violate this principle. I will not engage in any behaviours that compromise or demean the dignity of individuals or groups, including intimidation, stalking, harassment, discrimination, taunting,

ridiculing, insulting, or acts of violence. I will demonstrate respect for others by striving to learn from differences between people, ideas, and opinions and by avoiding behaviours that inhibit the ability of other community members to feel safe or welcome as they pursue their academic goals.

+ I will practice academic integrity: Academic integrity is a basic guiding principle for all academic activity at Penn State University, allowing the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest, and responsible manner. In accordance with the University's Code of Conduct, I will practice integrity in regard to all academic assignments. I will not engage in or tolerate acts of falsification, misrepresentation or deception because such acts of dishonesty violate the fundamental ethical principles of the University community and compromise the worth of work completed by others.

+ I will demonstrate social and personal responsibility: The University is a community that promotes learning; any behaviors that are inconsistent with that goal are unacceptable. Irresponsible behaviors, including alcohol or drug abuse and the use of violence against people and property, undermine the educational climate by threatening the physical and mental health of members of the community. I will exercise personal responsibility for my actions and I will make sure that my actions do not interfere with the academic and social environment of the University. I will maintain a high standard of behaviour by adhering to the Code of Conduct and respecting the right of others.

+ I will be responsible for my own academic progress and agree to comply with all University policies: The University allows students to identify and achieve their academic goals by providing the information needed to plan the chosen programme of study and the necessary educational opportunities, but students assume final responsibility for course scheduling, programme planning, and the successful completion of graduation requirements. I will be responsible for seeking the academic career information needed to meet my educational goals by becoming knowledgeable about the relevant policies, procedures, and rules of the University and academic programme, by consulting and meeting with my adviser, and by successfully completing all of the requirements for graduation.

There are only four major principles here. I hope the academic community in Bangladesh will adapt and adopt the core values,

communicate these values effectively, and inspire the students by example to inculcate these values. While I suspect some of these ideals do exist in some form or other in many institutions, the issue at hand is how best to operationalise them. I stress the word "operationalize" because academia today seems reluctant to engage with the social reality confronting them. It must find ways to put these principles to practice, imbuing students to choose right over wrong, truth over falsehood, justice over treachery, responsibility over irresponsibility, and so on. Where they are being practiced, the institutions must be applauded.

I might add that the Penn State President's message and proactive stance is an attempt not only to influence the students by laying out the ground rules; subtly, it is also directed at the entire academic community to heed. It is imperative to understand that students will only inculcate character, conscience, and the rest when the environment in which they are placed promotes these qualities. That means when teachers, administrators, staff, peers, parents of the students, and even the alumni --i.e., the constituents of the academic community -- help the new students experience what character is about, what conscience is about, what citizenship and social responsibility are about, only then will these fledglings be initiated into a transforming process of selfimprovement. If, on the other hand, they are greeted as nonentities and welcomed without

the warm extended hands of academy's various constituencies, they will feel they have arrived at the doorsteps of a cold, indifferent, and inhospitable world. Treated thus, the cycle will repeat itself, perhaps driving each new batch to greater depths of insensitivity, intolerance, and uncivil conduct.

Let us understand that the academy is a community -- a learning community -- where different persons and personalities come together, to learn formally and informally from each other, and to enrich each other through their character, upbringing, ideas, behaviours, friendships, and a host of other positive attributes. Clearly, the sustenance and growth of the student body must be shaped in an environment that recognises how individuals influence community and how community influences individuals: both must be given the respect and tolerance they deserve.

The academy is the nation's main junction -- its focal point -where people from various points of origin come together, share ideas, find answers, and prepare themselves for various destinations to shoulder the diverse responsibilities of nation building. Instead, if the junction becomes a gathering place where one is imbued with vile, corrupt, and outrageous norms and values, what can the nation expect from them? It is time to clean the house (of academia), open the windows, and let in a fresh breath of spring air to revitalise what academy once stood for. Decrepit ideas of the past must be dis-

carded and the academy must be reinvented. In that effort students must be given a vision, provided guidelines for appropriate behaviours, and allowed to drink from the fountain of knowledge to nurture the soul, build the spirit, hone the talent, and develop the capacity to pursue their crafts and chase their dreams.

That dream of a transformed academia, however, will not come about without engagement -- total engagement -- of the various constituencies representing the academic community. Held hostage today by a lowly group of thugs and charlatans who use fear as their main weapon, the academic community seems to be foundering. To reverse that trend, it must respond in unison by coming alive intellectually, spiritually, and morally, as it involves, energises and transforms the student body with new hopes and dreams that bring a sense of emancipation to them. There is going to be both overt and covert resistance, especially from the beneficiaries of the existing state of academy. Those at the helm of affairs in academia who have chosen to be up there must now be held to more stringent standards. And they must show results instead of towing party lines as they embark on a journey, a mission, to reinvent the academy -- and, thereby, the nation -that is competitive with its neighbours and the community of nations at large. Only then will the glorious past be resuscitated when those in academia were accorded the highest esteem and when building better human beings was considered a pious and patriotic act.

Dr. Syed Saad Andaleeb is Professor and Programme Chair of Marketing at the Sam and Irene Black School of Business, Pennsylvania State University at Erie, Editor of the Journal of Bangladesh Studies, and a Fulbright Scholar at East West University.